Man found beaten on Hazleton street

Hazleton police are investigating the beating of a man found on Fifth Street at around 6 a.m. Sunday. Police stand near drag marks leading from a home at 591 Lafayette Court to where the assaulted man was found.

Related stories

HAZLETON - Nearby church bells tolled as city police searched a city neighborhood for signs of an assault Sunday morning.

Just before 6 a.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to Fifth Street between Lafayette Court and Locust Street for an unidentified man with brown hair who was assaulted. The man had injuries to his face and was unresponsive, police said.

He was treated on scene and then taken to Hazleton General Hospital and later transported to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital for treatment, Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea said. His medical condition is unknown. DeAndrea said investigators were also trying to determine the victim's identity.

DeAndrea said early in the investigation it appeared some type of struggle took place involving the victim, though the investigation hadn't pinpointed the exact location of that struggle.

What appeared to be a pair of drag marks in cinders trailed from a small brown single home at 591 Lafayette Court and led to the area where the man was found.

It appeared handprints and fingerprints were also in the cinders on Fifth Street close to a gutter between Lafayette Court and Locust Street.

Following the apparent drag pattern, DeAndrea said, police entered a brown home on Lafayette Court to ask those inside if they had seen or heard anything.

Inside the home were three adults, a 6-month-old child and a 7-month-old pitbull rottweiler mix.

The dog became aggressive toward police when they entered the home and was subdued with a Taser after coming at a detective, DeAndrea said. The canine was temporarily removed from the home so police could serve a search warrant.

One man inside the home was taken to city hall to speak with police, but as of Sunday night no one had been charged in the crime. Officers also spoke to residents in the area as they sought information on the assault.

Barricades blocked motorists from traveling Fourth and Fifth streets between Alter and Locust streets and crime scene tape was draped across the area.

Yellow evidence markers dotted an area of Fifth Street between Lafayette Court and Locust Street where blood and cigarettes, believed to belong to the victim, were found.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police by dialing 911 or calling 570-459-4940. All replies are kept confidential.

State Police Forensic Services Unit also responded.

This was the latest in a string of violent high-profile crimes that plagued Hazleton only a few weeks into the new year.

On Feb. 23, police found shooting victim 19-year-old Angel Villalobos on West Maple Street. He later died at a hospital and his death was ruled a homicide. A second unnamed man was also shot and found near Villalobos.

Two days later, Joseph E. Babbitt III, formerly of Hazleton, allegedly shot a man from Northumberland County while in a vehicle at a restaurant parking lot off state Route 309.

On Feb. 27, police officers scoured a neighborhood in the Alter Street business district with guns drawn after the rear window of an unmarked police vehicle "exploded as if shot out" while a Hazleton detective sat inside it at Fourth and Alter streets just before noon.

achristman@standardspeaker.com 570-455-3636

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.